Media Owners Eye New Revenue Streams as Gambling Brands Quietly Expand Their Digital Reach
19 October 2026
Shrinking subscriptions and dwindling advertising dollars are driving media outlets to diversify their business models. One emerging area: partnerships with the gaming industry.
Sports Betting's Expanding Footprint
Sports media and sports betting have become inextricably intertwined. As newspapers and news outlets struggle to maintain revenues from subscriptions and advertising, many are recognizing the gambling vertical as a new opportunity. An easy transition, given the shared audience. A 2024 report by Editor & Publisher revealed that sports media across the board is eyeing gambling as a vetted and potent revenue channel.
But the relationship is still evolving. Gambling companies are quietly expanding their digital reach by combining casino gambling, internet gambling, sports betting, and daily fantasy sports, and partnering with media companies to spread their brands. Those are not partnerships formed on nostalgia, but from hard business logic. For publishers, sports betting represents a fresh revenue source. Traded stock and cash commissions are the game for sportsbooks, which need the distribution and audience leads.
The Gambling Content Investment
Gambling.com has a clear strategy with legacy newspapers, as detailed in a 2024 report from Sportico. The company creates content specifically to draw bettors to partner sportsbooks. Each successful referral is paid, with the revenue split between the newspaper owner and Gambling.com. Gannett, formerly USA Today, has 200 local papers and 140 million site visitors a month. Revenue partnerships with outlets represent a new earning wing, the company said. Gannett CEO Michael Reed said the deal with Tipico was prioritized to the sportsbook, with compensation including "cash, stock and affiliate commissions." The deal gave the sportsbook "branded content" access to 50 million of Gannett's niche sports viewers, plus access to 250 local niche sports markets.
ESPN followed a similar strategy with a 2023 deal with Penn Entertainment's sportsbook. That partnership includes content integration—the ESPN Bet sportsbook will be featured on shows—plus a multi-year marketing push from Disney's sports division, which stands to get $1.5 billion in cash and warrants over ten years. Smaller outlets have put similar strategies in place, including The Ringer and FanDuel, which struck a deal to make the sportsbook The Ringer's exclusive betting partner in 2022. In these deals, media outlets gain new revenue streams while sportsbooks reach their core audience with greater effectiveness.
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What the Juggernauts Gain
Sports betting companies are investing in media companies because outlets host the content and distribute the advertising in places their readers trust. Reaching a niche audience that is already predisposed to believe media brands, and who appreciate knowing they are reading a sports network source, is as valuable as the reach. Media companies stand to gain revenue through traffic, ad dollars, subscription sales and even by prompting sports enthusiasts to seek tickets and merchandise.
Digital retailers were quick to note that the 2018 Supreme Court decision legalizing betting would yield growth in ad spending. From $10.7 million in 2019's first quarter to $154 million by 2021's first quarter, per Nielsen.
Looking Ahead
As betting brands and media partnerships grow, so will their consumer presence. Legalized gambling is already a revenue stream for broadcasters, and is becoming a bigger part of live sports coverage. Sports networks such as CBS, ESPN, and NBC have already begun to integrate sports betting content into their broadcasts, with further expansions of gambling-related content likely in the future. Securing additional revenue sources might lead to more spending on content, technology and marketing, as companies compete for consumer attention in the lucrative betting space.
Final Thoughts
The presence of gambling content on media platforms is likely to continue growing. As the partnerships between media companies and sports betting brands become more prevalent, the line between sports media and gambling may continue to blur. Consumers will become used to seeing betting content in places they expect sports content, and both media companies and sports betting brands will reap the benefits of increased engagement, revenue, and brand exposure. If media companies achieve more revenue from gambling, they can augment their content: more original sports stories, more writers, more events. Meanwhile, betting brands stand to build their business on a bedrock of credibility built by media partnerships. Expect readers' perception of gambling within sports to evolve in the coming years, as betting content becomes more widespread.